Fingertips
by WeBuiltThePyramids
Summary: "You just need to hang on for a little while longer. They're almost here, but you need to hang on." A case goes from simple to threatening their leader's life in a matter of seconds.
1. Chapter 1

**So I got a couple of Waige requests ("please hang on," "this was supposed to be easy" etc) and figured I'd just fill them in one fic. This is going to be a three parter.**

 **(Yes I know I said I was on vacation and wouldn't be able to publish anything but we're marathoning TV and I always write best when we're doing that.)**

* * *

"Morning, Cabe!" Toby said cheerfully as he exited the van. "So what's so cool about this job that you couldn't tell us what it was at the garage?" He slung an arm around Happy, looking at Cabe expectantly.

"The owner of this building has discovered that a former employee has installed surveillance equipment inside. He wants us to cut all wires that don't belong in his system. Figures that'll draw less attention than taking down all the cameras."

"What sort of place is this?" Walter asked, scanning the brick as if it would give him an answer.

"They do chemical storage," Cabe said.

Toby looked confused. "So... _what's so cool about this job that you couldn't tell us what it was at the garage_?"

"I know the owner's son," Cabe said. "I was here talking to his old man and he brought it up. Figured a nice easy job."

"I was hoping for a cool job," Toby mumbled.

"I'm always down for something that isn't dangerous," Paige pointed out.

"Yeah, uh-huh," Sylvester said hurriedly, pointing at her as they followed the others into the building. "I'm with Paige."

* * *

"We just have to fix the wiring," Happy said. "It's located right under this floor, protected by metal tubing."

"Perfect," Paige said, "so we just locate the problem, pull up the section of floor grate that's nearest to the problem, and cut the sabotage wires."

"Not quite so simple," Sylvester said. "These grates haven't been pulled up since they were installed, it would take several minutes of cleaning the gunk out from between the sections and then several of us to yank them up, then we'd have to lean head first over the opening, which I estimate to be at least fifty five feet to the next level, to access the wiring. No, no, too dangerous. It'll be easier to climb up and do it from a ladder. I saw some sixty foot ones when we came in."

"Sixty feet?" Paige said, her eyes wide.

"Toby and Cabe will be down there to hold the ladder," Walter said. "Happy will be instructing me on what wires to cut. In and out...or in this case, up and down...in less than ten minutes."

"What do I do?" Paige asked.

"This isn't really a 'mission' type job, Sylvester said. "So you and I, I guess we'll just...hang out?"

"Maybe find some better ladders," Toby said. "The ones we saw looked older than that nag I bet on at Los Alamitos last week."

"They'll hold," Walter said.

"Probably aren't any other ones anyway," Happy said. "This half of the building is basically abandoned, there isn't a lot of need for ascension."

"We'll let you know when we're in place," Toby said as he, Cabe, and Walter jogged toward the stairwell.

"We'll be able to see you," Happy mumbled, "through the floor grate." She caught Paige's eye, and hers rolled dramatically. Paige grinned in response to her fake annoyance.

* * *

"I don't really like this ladder," Sylvester shouted down at them as Cabe frowned, struggling to securely place it against a beam. "It's old, it's not completely straight, one of the steps seems to have a crack. It's iffy. At best."

"It'll be fine for what we're doing," Toby said. "We're not carrying someone out of a burning building on our backs. Walter's just climbing it, unscrewing a segment of this protective pipe, and then cutting a few wires."

"How do they know what wires to cut?" Paige asked.

"The problem was discovered when a maintenance guy photographed an exposed section of the covering to show water damage," Cabe called up. "The owner noticed that the wiring was different from when he installed the actual security systems."

"So I've got both photographs," Happy said, "and I will be telling Walt which wires don't belong."

"Got it," Cabe said as the ladder secured into place. "Alright, Walter."

With Cabe and Toby each securing one side of the ladder, Walter began to climb, carrying the wire cutters in his mouth and the screwdriver in his back pocket. The ladder shook slightly as it took in his weight, and several times he stopped, being cautious. Too many people who were important to him had implored him to stop taking unnecessary risks, and this was an easy job. This wasn't time sensitive. He could afford to be careful, extra careful, in this particular instance.

When he reached the top of the ladder, reaching for the screwdriver and slowly but surely undoing the plate, tucking the screws inside it for temporary storage. In front of him were at least a dozen wires, in at least five different colors. "Okay Happy," he said, glancing up. He could only see the ceiling, far above him, through the grate. But he knew Happy, Paige, and Sylvester were just feet away, around the laptop.

Her voice reached him almost immediately. "Okay Walt, now there are two red wires in front of you. One has a bit of an orange hue and from these records seems to be made of some cheap material. Should be easy to locate."

"Yep, got it."

"Okay, now two yellow wires are twisting around..."

Walter continued to listen, cutting each wire Happy instructed. The yellow one – the one that wasn't dirty because it was new, was severed. Then the green, the one that was positioned higher above the rest. "Uh, wait, what?" he asked, confused, when she mentioned "a blue wire, wrapped with a white one like a double helix." "I don't see that," he told her.

"Uh...it should be just a foot or so to your right."

Walter looked. "Oh, I see it. Guys?" He looked over his shoulder and down, toward Sylvester and Toby. "I'm gonna have to lean to reach this one."

"I don't know if that's a good idea, Walter," Sylvester said. "This ladder is, as I said previously, iffy at best."

"It'll just be for one second," Walter said, putting a hand up through the grate, his fingers curling around the thin metal, one in each gap. With a good grip, he leaned to the side, extending the wire cutters.

He heard, just as the cutters closed around the wire, a yell, a rattling noise, a shudder, a panicked shouting of his name. A split second later, or perhaps at the same time, he felt his weight being shifted, not of his own volition, but as a result of the ladder's sudden lurch to the side. He reacted, dropping the wire cutters, reaching up with his other hand to get a grip on the grate as the ladder crashed to the ground.


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's part two. Part three will be up either later today or tomorrow, depending on how my afternoon goes. Thanks to those who have reviewed so far!**

* * *

In the grand scheme of things, and especially thinking back to their previous experiences with earthquakes while on the job, this one wasn't a big deal. But the trembling of the earth combined with an off balance ladder was enough to knock it free of Toby and Cabe and cause it to fall to the ground.

" _Walter_!"

Sylvester and Paige's screams were in unison, but an instant later they were working against each other, him holding her back, preventing her from lunging toward the grate until the situation was assessed.

"The ladder is broken!" came Toby's voice from below. "We can't get it back up to him.

"A fall from sixty feet is fatal in most cases," Sylvester said. "And Walter is hanging from just above that. If he drops onto the concrete from that height..."

"Guys..." Walter said, sounding uneasy.

"We don't have time to get him from below," Happy said. "He can't possibly hang like that for more than three minutes, maybe four. His fingers are contracted above his heart, making blood flow nearly impossible."

"Run," Sylvester said. "Get Happy's tools from the van and get up here! _This just became extremely time sensitive!_ "

"We can use them to undo the grate section and pull him up!" Toby shouted as he and Cabe broke into a sprint.

"How is your grip, Walt?" Happy asked. Behind her, Sylvester put his hands on his head and walked in a circle. Paige ran to the door, peering out as if expecting – or perhaps just hoping – to see Cabe and Toby coming already with the tools.

"Ah..." Walter looked up at her. "I got a grip shoulder width apart...more than that would be inefficient. Fortunately I had enough time to...attain such a grip."

Happy nodded as she observed. "Okay, try not to move too much. That will help extend your hang time."

"Oh believe me..." Walter grunted. "That is absolutely my goal."

Nearby, Paige paced, running a hand through her hair for no reason other than having something to do. She wanted to help, but she didn't want to get in the way. The gaps in the grate weren't large enough for any assistance to be given through them. And when Happy and Sylvester couldn't think of anything to do, that mean there probably _wasn't_ any current action that could be taken. No. They had to wait for Cabe and Toby.

"This is Toby, are you there? Over!"

Sylvester jumped, picking up the walkie talkie that was on the floor by the chair. "Do you have the tools?"

"Affirmative." That was Cabe's voice. "We're heading back inside. Two minutes."

"Guys, it's cutting into my skin."

Walter's fingers, from the second knuckles to the tips, were changing color.

Sylvester clutched the walkie talkie to his chest as he stood over the grate. "Walter, hang on!"

"I...am... _trying_." His voice was strained.

"But don't talk," Sylvester said. "Focus on breathing in and out. Now, on the exhale, tighten your grip. But exhale slowly. Actually, inhale slowly too. Focus on each breath. Just make it last as long as you can."

Despite the tension, and her own fear, Happy rolled her eyes, hearing Toby's joke in her head. She grabbed the walkie talkie. "Cabe! I _cannot_ get this grate moved _if I don't have my tools_!"

"We're coming!" Cabe's voice sounded tired. "Ninety seconds out!"

A pained sound came from Walter. One of his fingers straightened.

"No, no!" Happy rushed to the grate, falling on her knees and looking down at him. "You do _not_ give in," she said fiercely, "in two minutes, _two minutes_ we will have you out of this, you just have to hang on a little longer. _Listen to me, O'Brien_!" She looked over her shoulder at the woman who was pacing nearby, her hand to her mouth.

Paige noticed Happy's stare and stopped moving. The mechanic rose and came over to her. "You need to make sure he doesn't fall," she said.

"But I can't do anything," she said, her voice shaky, her hands wringing the bottom of her shirt as if she'd been swimming in it and was trying to dry out. Her voice cracked. "We can't do anything. _Happy._ " Her shaking hands grabbed hold of Happy's.

"Adrenaline. Will. All those things can contribute to survival. How do you think Toby was able to find me when I was out in the blizzard?" She stared intensely at Paige. "Talk to him. Tell him how you feel. He cares about all of us but you are the _only one_ that can transfer strength to him and I swear to _God_ if he dies and there was something we could have done to help him that we didn't even try..."

Paige nodded, glancing back at the door before beginning to walk toward the grate. A pained sound from Walter made her sprint the last few steps before falling to her knees and looking down at him. "Walter!"

He looked up at her and she shook her head. She wanted to see his face, but it wasn't natural for him to look up from his current position and that compromised his ability to hang. "Don't. Look ahead. Just listen." She took in an unsteady breath. "Walter, you just need to hang on for a little while longer. They're almost here, but you need to hang on. You have to do it yourself, I..." she bit her lip, reaching out a finger to stroke one of his knuckles. "I can't hold you right now. But when you get out of this, I will. I'm going to hold you and I'm not going to let you go, because..." her intake of breath sounded more like a gasp as she struggled not to cry. "Because we've spent far too long trying to let our feelings go and I don't want to do that anymore." One of his fingers had given out. She curled one of hers around it, briefly wondering if it was enough contact to keep him. She knew that hope was impossible. "Just hang on," she said. "I don't want to tell you that I love you like this."

He looked up at her again.

She jumped at the sound of the door flying open and slamming against the wall adjacent to it. Toby and Cabe came sprinting into the room, the former carrying a toolbox and the latter shouting, " _Walter, we're here!_ "

Paige backed off the grate as Happy grabbed the toolbox from Toby and began to work on the screws. Toby and Cabe lowered themselves on either side, scraping away at the filth that had accumulated from use of the floor for a decade.

"Guys, he's slipping," Sylvester said, his voice shrill as a couple of Walter's fingers inched backward. "Walter, we're right here, we're about to save you, don't let go."

"I can't feel my fingers," he said, sounding almost woozy.

"Just breathe," Paige said. "Breathe in, and out, okay? We'll have you. In just a minute we'll have you, just _don't let go_."

"Got them!" Happy shouted. "Everyone off the grate! Sly, Paige, Toby, help me lift this!"

The foursome waited as Cabe jammed a metal piece from the toolbox under the edge of the grate and stepped on it, allowing the segment to lift, just an inch or so. Walter groaned in response to the shift in his weight, and it wasn't possible for the others to tell if he began to sweat more or if the change in position had just affected the lighting. What wasn't ambiguous was the way his arms were shaking. They were running out of time.

"Grab it!"

They responded to Happy's command, getting their hands under the grate and bracing themselves, straining, pushing it upward. Paige ducked down, getting her shoulder underneath it, grunting loudly as they pushed the grate, lifting both it and Walter upward.

Cabe ducked under, reaching out his hand. "Grab my hand, son!"

"If I...if I let go..." His eyes were closed from the effort of keeping hold, "my other hand will give out."

Cabe leaned out farther, his hand just barely touching Walter's sleeve. "Someone hang on to me!"

"We got this," Toby said, and Sly moved out from under the grate to stand behind Cabe, grabbing the older man around the stomach. The remaining three winced at the added weight.

"Grab hold!" Cabe demanded, and Walter released his right hand from the grate, reaching for Cabe's. His other hand lasted another second or two before going limp.

But it was enough time. Cabe's hand closed around Walter's and the younger man swung over and down, getting his other hand up to grab hold of Cabe's. Cabe threw himself backward to counter the dramatic weight shift, and Sylvester leaned backward, pulling with all his might.

The blood coming from Walter's fingers compromised the grip between him and Cabe. "Pull!" He demanded of Sly.

With Walter's weight off of the grate, Paige and Happy let it go, running around to kneel beside Cabe, reaching down to each grab one of Walter's arms. Together, they hauled him up and staggered away from the gap.

* * *

Walter's head was spinning, and, oddly, considering his arms had been doing all the work the past few minutes, his legs felt weak and didn't want to work. He saw arms reaching for him, Paige's arms, and he stumbled into them, gasping both from his efforts as well as relief. His balance was off; he fell against her with too much force, knocking both of them to the ground.

She didn't seem to care. Without missing a beat she gathered him against her, resting her chin on the top of his head and pushing one hand through his hair. Her other hand slid to where one of his was resting on her knee, still weak, discolored, and bleeding. He could barely feel her hand under his, but he could see how gently she was cradling it.

"God, Walter," she was whispering, her fingers continuing through his hair. She sometimes used those words when she was annoyed. But this was different, he could hear the relief in her voice, and he could feel her heart pounding where his head rested on her chest, and he didn't want to move. He hated being vulnerable in front of his team and laying against Paige, bleeding and numb, was probably supposed to be embarassing, but he'd gone from a regular day, an easy job, to discomfort, pain, and horrible fear in a matter of minutes, and then from thinking he was about to die to feeling about as comfortable and safe as he'd ever been in a matter of seconds.

Embarassing as it may be, he wasn't in a hurry to change the current conditions.

* * *

 **Part three will be shorter, just a conclusion, and will be up either tomorrow or Saturday.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay, here is part three. Turned out a little longer than I'd expected, but no one really minds all dat Waige, right?**

 **Real talk though I struggled like mad with this chapter for a ton of reasons but I am actually kinda happy with how it ends? And I hope you guys are too.**

* * *

"You're going to be, as the young'uns are saying these days, _hella sore_ for a few days," Toby said as he finished bandaging Walter's hands. The bandages were cumbersome, but as Toby had explained, they would prevent the wounds from moving and re-opening. "But other than that you're none the worse for wear."

"Glad we can still come up with such time sensitive solutions," Cabe said with a crooked smile as he looked down at Walter. "Those hands will be all healed up soon and you can go back to hacking my laptop to sort my files in alphabetical order."

"That makes more sense than the way you're doing it," Walter mumbled, leaning back against the couch.

"You sound hoarse," Paige said. "Want some water?"

His head tipped to look at her. "Please."

Paige rose, going to the fridge. "Oh," she said in surprise when she turned to see Cabe standing near her. "Is...something wrong?"

"Nah," Cabe said. "Kid's just tired. I know it's only early afternoon but figured the rest of us should head home. Was going to grab an apple for the road."

"Ah." Paige stood to the side to give him access to the fridge. "God, this day didn't go the way we planned."

"If we're going to risk our lives," Cabe said, "I'd prefer if we do it when the world is at stake, not to botch some disgruntled former employee's half assed attempt of spying on his bosses."

"I really thought he was a goner today," Paige said, rolling the water bottle between her hands. "When he said he was losing feeling in his hands..." she shook her head.

"He may not have been able to feel his hands," Cabe said, "But he felt other things." He touched her elbow. "Good work, kiddo." He headed toward the door, and Paige began to walk back toward the couch as the others prepared to leave.

"See you tomorrow, Walter," Toby said, handing Happy her jacket.

"Yeah, feel better, buddy," she said. They turned to go, Toby's hand resting near the small of her back.

"I want to hug you," Sylvester said, after watching them and Cabe go. "But you're sore, so raincheck?"

Walter gave an amused smile. "Raincheck."

"Oh, but I can hug you!" Sylvester grinned as Paige approached, and he threw his arms around her enthusiastically. She smiled, doing her best to hug him back, and he left them with a farewell grin.

"Here you go," she said, unscrewing the cap. He awkwardly reached for the bottle. "No no," she said, "let me." Dropping down on the couch to his right, a leg tucked underneath her, she held the bottle to his lips and slowly tipped it back. "There you go," she said.

He swallowed, briefly closing his eyes. "Thank you," he said, letting his head fall to the side to look at her. A drop of water rolled down his chin. He lifted a bandaged hand to wipe it away.

"I don't have to pick Ralph up for a couple of hours," Paige said. "I can kill time at home, unless you'd care for company."

"I'd like it if you stayed a while," he said with a smile.

She smiled, lifting the water bottle to her lips and taking a drink before she realized what she was doing. "Oh gosh, sorry," she said, a hand over her mouth. "This was yours."

He gave a little shrug. "It won't kill me."

She wasn't sure if his comment was unintentional or an attempt at a joke, but she decided to go with the latter. "Where are you sore?"

"Wrists." He said. "Biceps. Back. Neck, too, oddly. I think from looking up."

She scooted close to him and reached over, resting her hand on his neck, her thumb slowly rubbing back and forth. "I wish I was a masseuse," she said.

"That feels good anyway."

He accompanied the quiet comment with a little shrug, and she suddenly realized that he hadn't taken his eyes off her the entire time. She retracted her hand to her lap and glanced down at his hands as a means of distraction, a way to gather herself without letting her eyes betray her. "Walter, I, um..."

She realized she had no idea how to do this. She hadn't done _this_ since she was nineteen, and while she'd never claim her feelings for Drew weren't real, a lot of things had changed since her sophomore year of college. She had changed, she thought about things differently, she defined words and concepts differently, and now that he _wasn't_ literally clinging to life her courage was gone.

"We've had a lot of close calls," she said, still not looking him in the eye. "And today I thought I realized that if you hadn't made it I'd have so many regrets but in reality it was me just realizing the same things I realize every time you put yourself in danger and I know I just said realize about twenty times but..." she paused for a breath, daring to lift her eyes to his face, and she was met with the same look he'd been giving her all afternoon. She realized she wasn't scared of opening up again. She wasn't scared of being in a relationship after her last one had ended so agonizingly. What was scaring her was the possibility that perhaps, since they'd talked in the weather balloon, his feelings for her had faded. That perhaps she was just a current fascination, someone he was mildly interested in but would get bored with, like he had with both women and work projects in the past. Seeing the way he was looking at her now made her see she was wrong. And it gave her nerve and made her wish she'd never broken the eye contact.

"Walter, I know we said we had to let our feelings lie but I don't want to anymore. I know the job is dangerous but I don't want regret to keep piling on to my general fear for your life." She reached over, sliding her hand over his arm. "Walter, I told you I didn't want to say 'I love you' for the first time when you were hanging from that grate. I wish I had said it before. I wish we had taken that risk. And we've seen how Happy and Toby are, their relationship hasn't hurt the team, and I don't want you and I to keep stopping at smiling at each other across the room. I want to be able to take your hand in public. And I want to be able to kiss you and hold you and when you come over to spend the evening with Ralph and I, I don't want you to leave. Last time we talked about our feelings for each other, I know I was the first of us to say I thought we should stay professional. And if you still want to do that, that's okay, I know Scorpion is so important to both of us, but..."

"I never wanted to stay professional," he interrupted, the first words he'd spoken since she'd began her confession. His voice quieted. "I just thought we had to."

They fell silent, their eyes locked on each other. She knew there was color in her cheeks, she knew what she was seeing in his eyes, and she gave a little smile as she said, "so...so do you maybe want to..."

"Well, I mean," he said, "I can't really move that well right now..."

Understanding, she gave a silly grin, shifting her weight, her knees pressing against his leg. She straightened up, leaning over him, her right hand against the couch just above his left shoulder for balance, and her left hand coming to rest on the side of his face. "I love you," she whispered, wanting to try it out, a wave of happiness surging within her when his grin told her he liked how it sounded as much as she did. She pushed her nose against his, tipping her head to the side before their lips made contact.

She shifted her weight slightly, wanting a better angle but trying to keep her weight completely off of him. Her new position allowed her to be 'taller' and she used that advantage to gently push Walter's head against the couch, her thumb running over his ear.

She felt an awkward bumping against her hips, and their lips eased apart as she turned her head to look. His hands were resting against her clumsily, as if he was wanting to pull her closer, but couldn't with the cumbersome bandages.

He gave an awkward chuckle, holding his hands up and out to the side, motioning toward them with his head. "These always seem to be, uh, out of commission when we do this."

"Here." She shifted her center of balance and reached around, gently taking his right wrist and guiding his arm around her waist. She kissed him again, then slowly leaned against him, tucking her head into his shoulder and sliding a hand across his chest, a ripple in his shirt forming from the pressure of her hand. "This okay?" she whispered against his neck.

His free hand came up, resting against where hers lay on his chest. "Yes, Love," he whispered in a low voice, a hint of his old Irish accent coming through.

 _Love_. She grinned. She liked how that sounded, too.

* * *

 **I should be publishing a new chapter for Serendipity in the next couple of days, so if that's the kinda thing you look forward to, look forward to that. Thanks for reading! And again, sorry it took so long to fill all these prompts.**


End file.
